By Jhoo Dong-chanThe number of people receiving state unemployment benefits has hit a record high as companies dismissed more employees amid the continued economic downturn.Economists say the Moon Jae-in administration's economic policies have made things worse for the labor market as tightening regulations on large business groups and hiking minimum wages have discouraged employers from hiring workers.The jobless rate and other recent economic indicators demonstrate Korea has failed for months to create jobs, and the public has turned against President Moon's "income-driven growth" policies that center on higher minimum wages and larger public sector employment, they said.According to the Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS), Sunday, 635,004 people received unemployment benefits in the second quarter of this year, up by 60,505 people, or 10.5 percent, from the same period last year at 574,499.The figure is the highest since the employment agency began compiling related data since 2010. The sum of the total unemployment benefits was 1.78 trillion won in the period, up nearly 300 billion won from the previous quarter. It was also a record-high quarterly figure.Korea's unemployment benefits are provided for workers with unemployment insurance who are laid off against their will. The data is often used to indicate the gravity of the nation's sluggish job market."The government's policy has failed to address the nation's current economic situation. There wasn't much room for firms to invest amid the downturn. Due to mounting pressure in labor costs, not only conglomerates but also small businesses downsized their staffs," said Sung Tae-yoon, a professor of economics at Yonsei University."The Bank of Korea plans to raise the key rate at some point by the end of this year, but I don't think it's time to raise it. Taking into account the current economic situation, the central bank rather needs to decrease the rate."According to Statistics Korea, the number of the unemployed was 1.10 million people in the second quarter this year, up 30,000, or 2.9 percent, from a year ago. It was also the highest second-quarter figure in the 20 years since 1999 the agency has been collecting related data.The data showed the manufacturing sector took up the largest portion of the nation's unemployment.The KEIS date demonstrated 127,951 people lost their manufacturing jobs in the second quarter, followed by health and public welfare where 82,332 people lost their jobs.There are also mounting concerns about the nation's job market as a growing number of workers in their 40s are losing their jobs. The data shows 133,705 workers in their 40s lost their jobs in the second quarter. The number of unemployed people in their 40s has been lower than those in their 30s, but started outnumbering the latter since the first quarter this year."Workers in their 40s are the backbone of the nation's economy. If they start losing jobs, it means the country is losing initiative in economic growth," futures trader Lee Sang-hoon said.